Pagcor Chair Andrea Domingo says she expects tax revenue from the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) scheme to double in 2018 on the back of tighter auditing processes set to be implemented by the nation’s gaming regulator.
An emotional Domingo, fresh from comforting the families of five people killed in a tragic fire at the Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino on Sunday, was the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s opening session of the ASEAN Gaming Summit in Manila, where she addressed a number of key initiatives and regulations currently being explored by Pagcor.
But POGO, the vehicle through which Pagcor has tightened online regulations under the watch of President Rodrigo Duterte, was a central topic of Domingo’s speech with the regulatory boss claiming the government will be significantly better off under the controversial scheme.
“We will double our income from offshore operations,” she said, noting that POGO had raked in Php3.9 billion in 2017.
Domingo noted that it was quite expensive for operators to establish themselves in the Philippines under POGO, with the necessary set-up costs and license fees totalling US$500,000, citing this as a factor in discouraging fly-by-night operators. Those fees include US$200,000 for the license itself, US$50,000 for the application and US$250,000 in mandatory deposits to cover bets.
The regulator has also brought in three levels of auditing including a declaration of the operator, 24/7 monitoring of all operators in real time and the addition of independent third-party auditors who only get paid if they uncover unpaid taxes from the companies they audit.
The ranks of POGO currently include 53 offshore providers and 153 support services providers.
Domingo also reiterated that Pagcor had placed a moratorium on the issuance of any new casino licenses from 13 January 2018, although applications received before that date were still being considered with “about four” existing applications currently undergoing review.
One of those, submitted in December by Leisure and Resorts World Corp – who plan to build a US$500 million Boracay integrated resort in partnership with Galaxy Entertainment Group – is expected to be approved Wednesday morning.
Such an approval would come despite calls for the government to completely shut down Boracay to tourists for a year to alleviate over-construction, water pollution and excess traffic, a scheme that Domingo hinted was more a certainty than a mere possibility.
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